


Scenes from a Honeymoon

by bitboozy



Series: Domesticated [39]
Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Post-Series, Romance, This is a love story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitboozy/pseuds/bitboozy
Summary: Alec and Ellie spend their honeymoon in Mallorca.
Relationships: Alec Hardy & Ellie Miller, Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller
Series: Domesticated [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550554
Comments: 85
Kudos: 119





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all - 
> 
> First of all, I hope you're all staying healthy. I want to thank those of you who reached out in the comments for the last story. It was amazing to hear how much this series means to many of you and it gave me a lot to think about. I'm inclined to continue for as long as I have ideas, which seems the best thing to do especially in these terrifying times. A little comfort goes a long way, it seems, for all of us. I'll also continue taking requests because it's fun to explore other timelines and head canons with these two - strange how the possibilities seem to be endless! Feel free to make a request in the comments or on Tumblr @bitboozy.
> 
> Second, I had intended for this to be a one shot, but it's going on fairly long and I thought I might break it into two so you don't have to wait as long while the world falls apart.
> 
> Thanks, as always, for your readership and support. It means a ton.

On the plane, Ellie has one vodka and falls asleep on his shoulder. Alec can’t sleep on planes, never could. He pulls out his laptop and sends a few work emails. He’s done no work since Thursday and has no intention of working again until they get back to Broadchurch on Friday. But a few emails while his wife is asleep won’t hurt him. Or her. So long as she doesn’t know.

She wakes long before he realizes. She opens her eyes and, from her prime location resting on his shoulder, eavesdrops on at least three emails before yawning and lifting her head.

*

When they arrive at the hotel, Ellie has massive déjà vu from the night before. The hotel in Mallorca, of course, is wildly different from last night’s hotel in Glasgow. But everything else feels the same.

Alec immediately looks out of place with the Spanish décor. He glances around with a slightly disoriented frown. He is quick to judge things that are new. Ellie knows this about him. But she also knows he’ll not dare ruin their honeymoon by complaining about a trip _he_ booked. She can’t wait to laugh at him in the morning, when the sun comes out and she tells him he needs to wear suncreen.

*

The hotel room is even more impressive than in Glasgow. It’s bright, even at night, and cheery, large and luxurious. A king size bed and a private terrace not far off from the beach. It’s a _bungalow_ , Alec tells her. Not merely a _room_.

Ellie checks out the _bungalow_ as Alec immediately begins unpacking. He cannot stand living out of a suitcase. After she has inspected every last inch of the space, she returns to him, carefully hanging his suits ( _suits?!)_ and refolding his clothes before putting them in drawers. She comes up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She kisses his back through his jumper.

“My love.”

“Mm.” He pulls his toiletries bag out of the suitcase and checks to make sure nothing’s exploded. “Just need to get all this sorted.”

“Come to bed,” she says, blindly reaching for his belt buckle.

Just as she unfastens it he moves out of her grasp. “Just a minute.”

Ellie glares at his back as he walks into the loo. When he comes back out, she has taken off her leggings and is standing there in only her oversized jumper. He stops.

Ellie places a hand on her hip. “Why don’t you get _me_ sorted.”

Alec drops the empty toiletries bag and rushes her. His lips crash into hers. As she pulls her jumper over her head, he grabs the back of her thigh and lifts her up. She tosses the jumper away and holds onto his neck as he carries her over to the bed. She flops back onto the mattress and watches as he hurriedly strips off his clothing, his eyes never leaving her body.

“Welcome to your honeymoon, Mr. Hardy.” She props herself up on her elbows and he goes weak at what it does to her breasts in her black lace bra.

Once he’s got his trousers and briefs off, he starts unbuttoning his shirt but he cannot wait any longer. He leans forward and yanks off her knickers. “Welcome to _yours_ , Mrs. Hardy.” Then he dives on top of her.

It’s quick and dirty, and totally frantic, as if they haven’t already had sex at least twice that morning. Frankly, it’s as if they haven’t had sex in weeks. He slams into her, gasping and moaning, with her legs over his shoulders. Ellie starts touching her own breasts and he loses his mind. They come at the same time. He pulls out and collapses beside her. She cannot stop smiling.

“Is this what it’s going to be like all week?” She turns her head to him, brushing a bead of sweat off her forehead.

“Four days,” he corrects her. “We’ve only got four days.”

“Far more than we’ve ever had before!”

He turns and kisses her. “My wife,” he says with great reverence.

She grins. “Think that’ll ever get old?”

He kisses her again. “No.”

Ellie wriggles and stretches a bit. “Going to be sore in the morning.”

He regards her sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“You’re not.” She pats his chest, then sits up. “Gonna have a shower.”

He frowns at her, offended.

“To wash the _plane_ off me, not _you_.”

He sighs, conceding, and watches her disappear into the loo.

*

Alec is up at six the next morning. He watches her sleep for a while, then goes down to the lobby to get a coffee. He explores the grounds, squinting at the brightness of the sun. When he returns to the bungalow an hour later, the noise finally wakes Ellie.

She sits up, curls in her face. “Time is it?”

“Round 7:30.” He places his refilled coffee mug down on the nightstand next to her. “We need to go shoppin’.”

She blinks at him, reaching for the coffe. “…What?”

“We haven’t got anythin’ we can wear here. And most importantly we need sunglasses.”

Because Ellie had not known about this honeymoon until after they got to Glasgow, it is true that she is very much unprepared. And Alec, though well aware, simply owned nothing suitable anyway.

Before she can respond, she winces at the bitterness of the coffee. Wordlessly, he pulls a few sugar packets out of his pocket and tosses them at her.

*

Ellie has never in her life had more fun shopping. Alec is utterly miserable, despite it having been his idea, and she relishes every moment of his grumpy little face. She picks out several sun dresses for herself, a couple maxi dresses, a very glamorous pair of sunglasses, and an even more glamorous hat.

“Look like Grace Kelly,” he tells her.

She rolls her eyes. “Oh please, at least be _somewhat_ realistic.”

“Ava Gardner then.”

“ _Thank_ you.”

She buys him a few loose t-shirts, including one Hawaiian-style shirt that he vows never to swear, and a few pairs of shorts, which he loudly scoffs at. He insists he’s never worn shorts in his life and she refuses to believe him. It’s too pathetic, she says. When she picks up new swim trunks for him, he refuses. She has to buy herself a bikini as a concession and he finally agrees. It takes nearly the whole time, but he does finally find sunglasses that he likes. He says they make him feel like “a Miami cop” and she can’t stop laughing.

“What?” He complains. “Like Don Johnson!”

“Oh my god,” is all she says, as she drags him out of the shop.

*

They have lunch at an outdoor café in their new clothes, sunglasses on. A seafood pasta for her, a steak salad for him. A glass of white wine for both. She has her sandaled feet resting on his chair next to his lap and he keeps a hand on her bare ankle.

“What d’you want to do today?” She asks breezily, staring out at the vista behind him.

“You realize it’s nearly 1 o’clock and you’re just now askin’ what we’ll do today,” he replies with incredulous amusement, popping a cherry tomato in his mouth.

“We’re on _holiday_ ,” she reminds him. “And not just any holiday. It’s our _honeymoon_ , we can do as much or as little as we like.”

He concedes, taking a sip of his wine and absently running his other hand up her calf.

“This is the first time in fifteen years I’ve not been Mum Ellie or Detective Ellie or Daughter Ellie, Sister Ellie…” she continues, leaning back. “I only have to be In Love Ellie.”

He squeezes her calf. “Sweet.”

“Not being sweet, it’s a whole new world for me.” She wiggles her toes. “Like my wedding pedicure?"

“Yes, In Love Ellie,” Alec replies, ghosting his fingers over her perfectly manicured toes. “Very nice.”

She takes a sip of her wine. “Do have to be careful my milk doesn’t dry up though.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Happy to help with that.”

“We’ll Facetime the kids later and then hopefully I’ll have to go pump.”

“Best honeymoon ever.”

She leans forward and swats his arm. But she’s laughing.

*

Walking along the sidewalk, Alec pulls her in for a kiss at some point and then they can’t stop. She holds her hat on with one hand and her other hand in his as they stop every few feet for another kiss. Eventually she notices he’s leading her back to their hotel.

“Cheeky,” she says.

They kiss their way through the hotel lobby, and when Alec becomes aware of all the people staring at him, Ellie brings a hand to his chin and holds his gaze.

“Never have to see any of these people again,” she assures him. “Just focus on me.”

He nods and pushes her down the hallway with his lips.

“ _Recién casadas_ ,” an old man says to his wife, shaking his head.

*

Ellie grabs her knickers off the floor. Alec leans back against the wall, breathing heavily. She picks up his briefs and tosses them at him.

“Uh oh,” he says.

She turns back, pulling her hair back into a clip again. “What?”

“Rip in your dress.” He gestures at her back.

“Oh bloody hell, really?” She reaches back until she feels it. “Brand sodding new.”

Alec shrugs sheepishly. “Thin fabric.”

“Reckless husband.”

“Guilty.”

He pushes himself off the wall and grabs her waist, kissing her neck. “Sorry.”

“Next time I’ll be sure to ruin something _you_ love.”

He kisses his way up her neck then sucks on her earlobe. She leans back into him, frustration quickly melting. Then there’s a vibrating mobile somewhere in the room.

“Leave it,” he murmurs.

“Might be the kids.” She extricates herself from him and finds her bag on the floor. When she pulls her mobile out, Lucy’s name appears. “Ah ha.”

She accepts the Facetime call. She sees Fred's face, absurdly close to the camera. “Hello!”

Alec comes up behind her. “All right?”

“HI,” Fred shouts.

“Shh, don’t have to shout, Fred.” Lucy’s voice.

“Hi, my love,” Ellie says. “What’ve you been getting into?”

Fred squints at the screen. “Why are you both sweaty?”

Lucy cackles in the background.

“Were just out in the sun, mate,” Alec answers quickly.

“Catching some rays,” Ellie adds awkwardly.

None the wiser, Fred babbles on some legos and Star Wars for a while. Alec and Ellie settle themselves on the couch close together and listen attentively. In the background, they hear Aila’s _yayayayaya_. Already Ellie can feel her milk starting to down letdown. She looks down at her tits. Alec’s gaze follows hers and he laughs.

“Enough now, Freddie, let’s get your sister on,” Lucy says, finally.

“But she can’t _talk_ ,” Fred protests.

“Like to see her anyway, please,” Ellie tells him. “You have to remember to _share_.”

“ _Fine_.”

Lucy appears briefly as she shuffles around with the mobile. Then they see Aila sitting in her bouncer, chewing on a teething ring. They nearly explode with enthusiastic greetings. Aila just blinks at them.

“Look at _you_ , sweet bug.” Ellie has tears in her eyes already. Alec nudges her. “So big.”

“Been one day, El.”

She ignores him. “Daddy only says that because his breasts aren’t _aching_ at the bloody sight of you,” she says in her cooing voice. “Otherwise he would know _better_.”

Aila drops the teething ring and starts reaching her arms out to grab the mobile. Lucy keeps it out of her reach.

“Mmmmm- _muh_ ,” Aila repeats over and over, beginning to get anxious.

“It’s all right, darlin’,” Alec says.

“Has she been okay, Luce?” Ellie asks.

“Cranky when the other kids aren’t around,” Lucy replies off-camera. “Think she’s a bit lonely if you ask me. Not so amused by Granddad and Auntie Lucy, we haven’t got the tits she wants or the beard she likes.”

“Only a few more days, my love,” Ellie says, clearly talking to the baby again.

Aila starts to cry, realizing that she cannot touch them no matter how hard she tries to.

“Better let you go,” Lucy says. “I’ll bring her back to Fred and she’ll calm down.”

Ellie’s heart warms. “Really?"

“Very into Fred with you two gone.”

Ellie and Alec look at each other, overwhelmed by this little factoid.

“Say goodbye to Mummy and Daddy, Aila,” Lucy says to the baby.

“Bye bye, sweetheart,” Alec says, waving.

“We love you so much!”

“Have fun, you two!” Lucy calls to them, then ends the call.

“ _Oh_.” Ellie turns and buries herself into Alec. “My whole body aches.”

He kisses the top of her head and rubs her back. “Mum Ellie’s never far, is she?”

“No,” she replies gloomily.

He squeezes her shoulders and kisses her forehead. “Poor thing,” he says sympathetically. “Now go express that milk of yours so we can go down to happy hour.”

*

Ellie and Alec are both two and a half drinks in at the hotel’s outdoor restaurant. They sit adjacent to one another at the table, but close enough for their knees to touch. Ellie is drinking a tequila and soda while Alec drinks a rum and coke. Neither one of them has touched tequila or rum in years. But it seems the thing to do.

“D’you realize we’ve done _nothin’_ today?” Alec says, mid-laughter.

“We’ve done plenty!” Ellie protests. “We…woke up. We ate breakfast. We had a nice shower shag. We went shopping. We had lunch. We had a nice wall shag. And then we came here. Very full day if you ask me.”

“We’ve not even been to the beach yet,” he points out. But he can’t stop laughing.

She whacks his arm with her napkin. “Why are you _laughing_.”

“Because we came all the way to a foreign country to do exactly what we do at home.”

“Yes but with _sun_.” She takes a sip from her straw. “With an ocean view.”

He stares at her incredulously. “Got an ocean view at _home_.”

“…Right.”

They both chuckle a bit too loudly.

“Different ocean though.”

Alec gets up to go to the loo and Ellie stares out at the ocean view behind his chair. She tries to pick out all the similaries and different between this view and the one at home. When he returns, her straw is just lazily sitting in her mouth as she stares off. He snorts.

“Ellie.”

She sits up straight and pulls the straw away. “Can I ask you a serious question?”

He collapses into his chair and picks up his drink again. “Depends how serious. I’m rather enjoyin’ myself at the moment.”

“When we were sharing a bed at that shit motel in Sandbrook.” She leans forward. “What were you thinking about?”

He blinks at her a few times. “In the bed? Like during the night?”

“Yeah.”

He leans back, crossing one leg over the other. “Just remember tryin’ not to touch you. Tryin’ to convince myself not to touch you. I was up more than half the night ‘cause I was afraid that if I fell asleep I would just…naturally gravitate closer to you.”

“That’s what I was hoping, you know,” she tells him. “I’d hoped we’d wake up in each other’s arms, accidentally. Hoped that I’d wake up first, before you could notice and pull away, so I could just enjoy being touched for a while. Being held.”

“Well.” He looks down, and when he looks up again he’s smiling at her. “We’ve more than made up for that now, haven’t we?”

Ellie nods, then sips from her straw distractedly. She cocks her head to the side. “Did you used to fantasize about me?”

He raises an eyebrow and meets her glassy eyes. “You know I did.”

“Fantasize about me when you were…” She makes a face that is perhaps supposed to be sexy but is just cute.

“Yes.”

“A lot?”

He puts his glass down. “Well I wasn’t takin’ fifteen showers a day if that’s what you’re askin’. Still a respectable adult.” His knee nudges hers. “Did you?”

She all but flutters her eyelashes at him. “ _Maybe_.”

“Now’s not the time to be coy, babe,” he replies. “I already married you.”

She bites her straw. “I like to think _I_ married _you_.”

“Uh huh.” He slides his glass of water toward her. Hers is empty.

She ignores him and leans forward conspiratorally. “All right, you want to know the truth?”

He leans forward too, humoring her. “Lay it on me.”

She puts her drink down. “Those men I shagged before you? The ones you hate to think about, like to pretend don’t exist?” He frowns. “I pretended they were you. All of them.”

His jaw drops and he leans back in his chair, relieved and victorious. “ _Really_.”

“Mm-hmm, really.” She picks her drink back up. “They were all you.”

He smirks, rubbing his knee against hers. “You’d have told me that long ago if you didn’t like me being jealous so much.”

Ellie gasps. “I absolutely do _not_. Jealousy is an oppressive, patriarchal, primal sign of insecurity in a relationship and – “ His dubious expression stops her. “All right I like it a _bit_.”

“I knew it.”

“Just a bit!”

“Cunning little minx, you,” he says, sizing her up.

Ellie sucks her drink down to the ice. He taps the glass of water next to her. She sighs and throws some back. Then he looks at his watch.

“Should never wear a watch on holiday,” she chides him, then continues to drink water.

“We’ve got ten mintues until our dinner reservation,” Alec informs her.

She looks at him with disproportionate alarm. “I’m not even _hungry._ ”

“Quite full up on tequila, are we?”

She makes a face at him. “ _Are we_.”

He pulls out his mobile. “I’ll call and cancel. Maybe reschedule for tomorrow.”

Her face lights up. “Room service.”

“Mm-hmm.” He slaps his thigh. “Come on then.” He stands and holds a hand out to her. “Let’s go settle up at the bar.”

She takes his hand and stands a bit unsteadily. He kisses her cheek and takes her arm, then leads her into the main restaurant.

They take the beach path back to their bungalow. The sun has mostly gone down, but there’s a hint of a sunset left. Ellie holds onto his arm as they walk, and they both hold their shoes in their other hands.

“Drinking is fun, I like it,” she announces, after a minute or two of relative silence.

He kisses her hair. “Yes, my love.”

Once they arrive, Alec goes to get them both a glass of water. When he returns to her, she’s wriggling out of her dress.

“ _Oh_.”

She lets the dress fall to the floor and steps out of it. “ _Room service_.” She makes quotation marks with her hands.

“…Thought you meant. You know. _Food_.”

She responds by taking off her bra and pulling down her knickers.

“Right then.” He quickly puts the waters down.

His hands are on her long before he thinks to take off his own clothes. She pulls his shirt over his head, messily, as he fondles her breasts, then she unfastens and yanks down the shorts that he hates. They fall onto the bed. He pulls off his briefs, then kisses his way down her stomach.

“Can we have a honeymoon every weekend,” he murmurs breathlessly.

“The little ones might protest.”

He’s quite nearly distracted from his task by this. He finds it wildly endearing and literally heartwarming whenever she refers to their younger children as _the little ones_. But he maintains his focus and parts her thighs, settling happily between them.

Ellie is delightfully buzzed and floaty. She feels like his tongue inside her is the greatest thing that could ever happen to anyone and she delights in every flick of it, a smile on her face the entire time. She’s so loose and happy that she comes harder than she has in a while. Her enthusiastic cries make him want to keep going and never stop.

But instead she reaches for him. “Come here. Come here to me.”

He moves inside her impossibly slowly, distracted by her flushed cheeks and glassy eyes and tipsy smile and oh he loves her so much. Loves that she has these few days to let go, focus on herself and on their relationship, to truly relax. He can’t stay away from her neck. He wants everyone on this island to see the mark he leaves. It’s odd, the more free she seems, the more possessive of her he feels.

“So beautiful,” she whispers.

Perhaps he was not meant to hear it, but he raises his head and touches his nose to hers and she grins. “The unreaaaasonably sexy Scot I’ve just married.”

Grinning back, he reaches between her legs to find her clit and she lets out the most glorious whimper.

“You’re amazing,” she breathes out.

He smiles smugly and kisses her lips. Usually she’s too distracted during sex to say much. He does most of the talking – a switch from their normal dynamic. The tequila seems to have loosened her up considerably. She closes her eyes and arches her back with a sigh. He props himself up and picks up his thrusts, watching every change in her expression with rapt attention.

They both finish fairly close together. He buries himself in her chest with a breathless _I love you_. She thinks about how lucky she is to have found someone who professes his love to her many, many times a day without being prompted. As if reading her thoughts, he says, _Love you so much_.

“How,” she says, and it’s as much a statement of astonishment as it is a question. Perhaps more.

He props himself up and regards her curiously. “ _How_.”

Her eyes widen and she covers her mouth with her hand. “Sorry,” she replies, muffled.

Shaking his head, Alec pulls out of her and shifts to lie at her side. He lowers her hand. “How what?”

“How can you love me so much,” Ellie elaborates, a bit reluctantly.

He quirks an eyebrow. “Two orgasms haven’t sobered you up, eh.”

“No,” she admits, with the guilty face of a child.

Alec finds her hand and threads their fingers together, then kisses her cheek. “Let’s get you some food, shall we?”

She nods.

“To answer your question,” he says, smiling at her. “I don’t _know_ how. But it’s far and away the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

*


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is taking me forever, I'm sorry. I'm having a hell of a time writing at the moment, even with things I enjoy. So I'm breaking this up again. May as well have three chapters, one for each full day of the honeymoon. Hope you're all staying healthy.

The next morning, Ellie awakes from a dream about Aila and immediately has to go pump.

“So bloody glamorous,” she mutters, tossing the covers off.

Alec is still asleep when she’s finished, so she goes about her morning routine, hopping in the shower and cleaning her teeth. She throws on a wrap dress that she bought yesterday in town, then sits out on the terrace for a while. It’s surprisingly nice to have some time to herself, just to bask in the quiet and soak up the sun. Then she realizes it’s nearing nine o’clock and as much as they might fancy a lie-in, they have a beach to get to and crowds to beat.

Alec barely moves when she climbs on top of him, straddling his waist.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

He grunts in response.

“Come on then.” She pats his bare chest. “Places to go, people to see.”

“No thank you on the people,” Alec grumbles, forcing his eyelids to stay shut.

“If we want a good spot on the beach, we’ve got to get a move on, and we’ve still got to grab breakfast first,” Ellie argues, bouncing eagerly. Not unlike Aila when she sees someone she loves.

She is well aware that he’s not so keen on the beach as it is. He’s been expecting it, of course, given their location, but he can hardly feign any interest at all.

“ _Alec_ ,” she whines, when he ignores her.

He continues to lie there limply. She exhales, then smiles mischievously when she gets an idea. She grabs his hand and sticks it inside her wrap dress, atop her breast. His immediately opens one eye, then the other, and squeezes it.

“Right, then, reckon you’re awake now,” she says briskly, climbing off him, dislodging his hand from its happy place.

“ _Ellie_.”

She slaps his cheek lightly as she crawls off the bed. “Up and at ‘em, Mr. Grumpy Detective Man.”

*

When they finally make it to the beach, it’s already fairly crowded, but at least it’s not a weekend so they do all right. They rent a couple beach chairs and prop them up in the sand next to a rented umbrella.

Alec wears an unbuttoned islander shirt and his swim trunks, appearing utterly miserable about it. She can detect his frown even behind his giant sunglasses.

“Chin up, babe.” She tosses him a bottle of sunscreen.

She’s got her new two-piece bathers on – _not_ the bikini, having decided that it is best not left for public consumption, she’s not _quite_ so confident – and her cover up. She sits down on her chair and pulls the cover up off, turning her back to him.

“Don’t skimp either,” she says. “Must protect this English rose at all costs.”

His spirits are lifted simply by the act of slathering her with sunscreen, just as she suspected. He takes his time, working in a little massage as well. For his own pleasure.

“All right, just milking it now.” She turns and grabs the bottle from him. “Now you. Turn around.”

He just frowns at her.

“Oh, what, you’d rather have third bloody degree burns on your honeymoon?” She scowls back. “ _Turn around_.”

Grudgingly, he does.

“Your skin’s just as delicate as mine whether you like it or not,” Ellie tells him, massaging some suncreen into his back. “You have to _keep_ reapplying it by the way, it doesn’t last all day.”

He groans.

“Yes, complain away, but how much shagging do you think we’re going to do with you burnt to a crisp?”

He grunts.

“That’s what I thought.”

*

Twenty minutes later, they’re both settled in their beach loungers, sunglasses on, books open. At some point, he reaches for her hand and their clasped hands dangle in the space between the two chairs. They pull away each time they need to turn a page, then come back together, silently and without discussion.

Nearly thirty minutes after that, Ellie turns over onto her stomach and continues reading. He lifts his gaze and stares at her for a moment, then decides to do the same, but only after patting her arse a few times.

About ten minutes go by, then he turns his head in her direction. “El.”

“Mm-hmm.” She turns a page.

He pauses. “This is nice.”

“I told you.”

He turns back to his book.

*

After an indeterminate amount of time passes, Ellie closes her book suddenly and sits up, feet in the sand.

“All right, I’m going in.”

He looks at her in mild alarm and then sits up as well.

“Going to join me?”

Alec looks out at the ocean. “…Dunno.”

She reaches out and touches his thigh. “I’ll hold your hand the whole time.” She says it like a joke, but he knows she means it.

He nods, but then says, “You go on. I’ll watch for now.”

She squeezes his thigh. “All right.”

Ellie walks toward the water with a confidence and easiness he wishes he had. She stands with just her feet in for a minute or so, then slowly begins to wade further in. Knee-deep, she turns back and blows him a kiss with both hands and he smiles. She continues, then disappears under the waves before popping back up again. He can see her grin all the way from where he sits. He watches her until she begins to wade back again, dripping wet, absolutely glowing.

“Come on, join me. Please,” Ellie says. “It’s not like the sea at home. It’s warm and mostly see-through. The waves are mild. Come on.” She reaches out for his hand. “I’ve got you.”

He agrees, if only due to the reassuring smile on her face. And because he really, really wants to touch her.

Alec holds tight to her hand as they stand in ankle deep water. She grins up at him and he can see himself reflected in her sunglasses.

“Let’s keep going,” she says encouragingly, gently dragging him along with her.

He’s gone into the water with her a couple times before. Always slowly, always holding tight to her. This feels somewhat different. She’s right, it _is_ a very different sea from their own. It doesn’t remind him of Bridget. And with the sun shining brought upon them, it doesn’t remind him of Pippa.

He’s up to his knees now. She’s up to her thighs.

“All right?” She asks.

He nods. She lets go of his hand just long enough to put her arm around his waist, squeezing his hip. They take a few more steps together. This time when he looks down at her face, he sees Aila’s face. He wants to be able to teach his daughter how to swim.

He’s in to his waist. She’s in to about the top of her ribcage. She turns into him, sliding her arms up around his neck.

“Nice, yeah?”

He shrugs coyly. “’s all right.”

A wave rolls in and rocks them from side to side. He keeps his footing and steadies them both. She pulls him down to her and kisses him, with both pride and gratitude.

“Like it much better _now_ ,” he says, pulling her in for another.

They sway in the water for a while, snogging as well as they can with the waves pushing them around. When they decide to return to the shore, Ellie jumps on his back and he carries her the whole way. She kisses the back of his neck and lays her chin on his shoulder.

*

They have a late lunch at a restaurant on the beach. Alec brings their orders to Ellie at the table, and it’s close enough to fast food to make him skeptical. But she immediately starts devouring it, naturally.

“You’ve gotten some sun,” Ellie observes, after swallowing a bite. “Looks good on you.”

He sits up straight and there’s a hint of a smile. “Yeah?”

“Best stay covered the rest of the day though or you’ll overdo it, I reckon.”

He deflates a bit and starts picking at his fried food. “If you’re an English Rose, what does that make me?”

She cocks her head to the side. “Haggis?”

He flicks an oily vegetable at her but she manages to dodge it. Then she pulls out her mobile.

“Oh, Dad sent along this photo.”

She holds the mobile out to him. It’s a photo of Fred lying on the couch, presumably watching _Star Wars_. Aila is asleep on top of him.

“Dear lord.”

Ellie can hardly contain her joy. “I _know_.” She fiddles with her mobile a bit. “Just made it my lock screen.”

“We’re lucky bastards,” Alec says, shaking his head in astonishment.

“Bloody well right.” She slips her mobile back into her bag.

He nudges her foot with his. “So what’ve we got on the rest of the day?”

“There’s a boat tour that takes you to the cathedral,” Ellie tells him. “S’posed to be phenomenal. Thought we might do that. If you haven’t had it with the open sea as yet.”

He looks down, pushing his food around his plate. She looks at him pointedly.

“We don’t _have_ to.”

“It’s just, um.” He shifts his weight around and crosses one leg over the other. “Angus mentioned a golf course. Good driving range. Not too far from here.”

“ _Oh_.” She seems genuinely surprised.

“Obviously I know that’s not _your_ thing, but – “

“No, no, I think that’s great,” Ellie replies. “You go play your little golf, I’ll go on the boat tour.”

He regards her uncertainly. “You mean go our separate ways?”

“Just for a few hours, love.” She turns back to her food. “A few hours apart never hurt anyone.”

“’s our honeymoon though.”

She smiles. “Doesn’t mean we have to spend every waking moment together. A honeymoon is just a holiday. We should use it to do what we want, do what makes us happy.”

“I love you.”

Her smile widens into a grin. “And so you ought.”

He makes another attempt at his food. “Got that rescheduled dinner reservation tonight at seven. Should we meet back at the hotel at six?”

She agrees, then swaps her plate with his. “Try this instead.”

Turns out her meal is _much_ more to his taste. He nods, pleased, as he chews.

“ _Really_ love you,” he mumbles, mouth half full.

She laughs.

*

Alec goes to the golf course. He intends to spend the afternoon alone on the driving range, but for the first time in his life accidentally makes friends with a group of Americans on holiday and is invited into their game. It’s shockingly enjoyable to tag along with them, joining in on the conversation only when it suits him and observing the rest of the time. He manages to _win_ , despite it being at least ten years since he’s held a golf club. He attributes this to his Scottish heritage. The Americans didn’t stand a chance.

As much as Ellie would have been happy to have Alec with her on the boat tour, she likewise relishes being on her own. She can sit back and relax at the back of the boat, basking in the sun with her arms outstretched over the edge. It’s nice not to have to concentrate on soothing Alec’s fears. She can take in the water, the sights, the ocean spray without guilt or concern. With her sunglasses and her hat, she feels like a mysterious European stranger and creates a black widow narrative for herself. It’s utterly delightful.

She’s back in their hotel room by 5:45. She’s in the loo washing her face when she hears him enter.

“El?”

“In here!”

Ellie picks up a bottle of aloe vera and starts rubbing it all over her skin. She’s not _quite_ sunburnt, thanks to the constant reapplying of sunscreen, but her skin is warm all the same. The cool gel feels incredible.

“Did you have a nice time?” She asks.

Alec appears in the doorway. “Brilliant, actually.”

She turns and beckons him to her. He gives her a quick peck on the lips. “Let me give you some of this.”

She begins applying the aloe vera to his skin as he continues, hardly acknowledging it. “Joined up with some Americans for a game.”

“You’re _joking_.”

“Not bad blokes at all. Bloody shite at golf though,” Alec replies. “Managed a win, I did.”

She grins. “Well done, babe.” Her hands slide and down up his mostly bare arms, rubbing in the aloe. “Not too much color either. Feel warm?”

“Not anymore.” He picks up the bottle of aloe vera and inspects it. “Quite nice.”

“You’ve truly never spent a full day in the sun in your life, have you?”

“No.” He grabs her hips and pulls her against him. “You’re nice and pink.”

Her hands go to her cheeks, feeling the warmth there. “Think I _just_ managed to avoid a burn, only just.”

He kisses her lips, then her cheek. “How was the tour?”

“Fabulous. I spoke to absolutely no one and it was glorious.”

“Look at us,” he says, impressed. “Tradin’ roles.”

She slides her arms up around his neck. “Miss me?”

He nuzzles her ear with his nose then kisses her neck. “No. You?”

“No,” she replies, massaging the hair at the back of his head.

His lips find her pulse point and with a happy groan he sets upon sucking at it. Still gripping the back of his neck with one hand, Ellie slides her other hand down his body to the front of his trousers and begins stroking at his fly. He bites into her neck and she doesn’t let up.

“Do we have time?” She asks, breathing in sharply.

His lips graze over the bite mark. “If we decide we have time, we have time.”

Alec grabs the back of her thighs and lifts her up. She holds onto his neck again, grinning as she kisses him.

“Careful now,” she says cheekily. “It’s not so easy to do on land.”

He nips at her bottom lip and walks them toward the door. “I can bloody well manage to carry my own wife from the loo to the bed.”

“Course you can.” Her kisses are soft and languid. “Your very own wife.”

“My very own wife.”

He climbs onto the bed on his knees then they both fall together in heap. He manages to strip her of her beach cover up, leaving her in her long since dry two-piece bathers. He pulls his own shirt over his head.

“Want you in that bikini later,” he murmurs, pressing kisses into her chest. “You promised.”

She responds by unbuttoning and unzipping his fly, then plunging her hand in to palm him through his briefs. Her hand drifts to stroke and cups his balls, and he starts to go a bit boneless on top of her.

“Not gonna last long,” he warns her.

“Haven’t _got_ long.”

At her insistence, he turns her over and takes her on all fours. He keeps one hand in her hair, the other gripping her hip as she encourages him over and over with a breathy _yes_. He comes fairly quickly, pulling her hair and gasping her name. After he pulls out and collapses back against the headboard, he reaches for her and settles her between his legs, back to his chest. He gets her off with his hand, the other massaging her breast. For several minutes, neither moves, they lie melded together, happily waiting for their breathing to regulate. He lazily strokes the inside of her thigh and kisses her ear.

“Perhaps we should spend _more_ time apart,” Ellie says finally, with a laugh.

“Not a chance.”

*

At dinner, Alec convinces Ellie to let him wear one of his suits. Her only stipulation is that he leave the top few buttons unfastened, for a more casual look. She wears one of her new maxi dresses.

She is diving into some sort of fancy seafood creation as her entrée, while he sticks with a more traditional pasta dish. After a moment or two of silently appreciating this meals, Ellie looks up.

“So, is there anything about our life you would change?”

He immediately frowns at her.

“Not a trick question,” she insists. “I just mean…since we’ve gotten together, it’s all sort of snowballed, hasn’t it? We haven’t had much time to actually _think_ about what our lives are like now, what’s working, what isn’t. And now we have this brief interlude away from it all and we can take a look at it with some perspective.”

He blinks at her for a moment, then picks up his water glass. “I’m very happy.”

“Well, of course, so am I, it’s not about that,” Ellie says. “But is there something we might do differently, or better? The whole family.”

He spends too much twirling the pasta on his fork. “Well. I might like it if we had a bit more time with Daisy.”

“Absolutely,” she agrees. “She’ll be off soon. We ought to prioritize finding ways to spend more time with her, yeah?”

Alec nods. “And maybe more scheduled family dinners. The teenagers get so…removed from us sometimes.”

“Mm. I agree.” She takes a mouthful and thinks about this. “Weekly family dinners may not be the answer. We don’t want to make it feel like an obligation, then it’ll all fall apart. Maybe we have sort of a regular check in, see what their plans are. Schedule dinners around their free time. Something like that.”

He nods.

“Good. What else?” She asks.

Alec pushes the food around on his plate. “Might like to feed the baby more myself.”

She frowns then smiles in quick succession. “Right. Well. She’ll be into solids soon. Probably only nurse in the mornings and evenings.”

The idea of their tiny baby suddenly moving into solid food seems halt their thoughts. They both put their forks down and reach for their wine glasses.

“And you?” Alec asks, needing a slight change of subject. “What would you change?”

“Well frankly I think I’d like to have more office sex,” Ellie states.

Alec smirks at her, unsure if she’s being serious or not.

“When’s the last time we did?” She asks.

“Uh.” He sloshes his wine around. “Not since you were pregnant, I reckon.”

“And now we’ve _both_ got offices, the possibilities are endless.”

Alec is staring at her, trying to suss her out.

“What?” She sips her wine. “More shagging outside the bedroom, that’s what I say. We used to be so good at it.”

“Yeah. Then we had a baby.” He sips his own wine. “All right, noted.”

“On that note, I think I’d like for us to do more.”

He puts his glass down again. “Do more than what?”

“I know we’ve got little free time, just you and me, and we tend to spend that time…you know, huddled on the couch in front of the telly then retreating to the bedroom and locking the door. Which I _adore,_ don’t mistake me, but if this trip is teaching me anything it’s that I miss… _doing_ things,” Ellie explains. “And it doesn’t have to be much. It can as simple as going out for dinner more, seeing a movie, going to a play, maybe a double date with Jocelyn and Maggie now and then. Just… _going out_.”

Alec leans back in his chair thoughtfully. “Hmm.”

“Even if you just take me out to the pub once in a while after the little ones go to sleep. I think I’d like that.”

There’s a brief pause, then he nods and leans forward, reaching for her hand across the table. “Can manage that.”

Her hand meets his in the center of the table. “Thank you.”

*

On their walk back to the hotel, they pass an outdoor bar. Where there appears to be dancing.

Ellie stops them and looks up at Alec.

“…No.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Ellie complains. “Stop pretending you don’t enjoy dancing with me.”

She grips his hand too tight for him to let go and drags him over.

It is not, in fact, that he doesn’t enjoy dancing with her. It’s that he’s hesitant to let anyone else witness the overwhelming intimacy between them. In Broadchurch, it seems that all eyes are always on them. But here…

“No one cares, Alec,” she insists, leading him onto the half full dance floor. “No one is giving us a second glance.”

He pulls her against him. He holds her hand to his chest, his other hand traces circles at the small of her back, and he bows his head and turns his face into her neck, lips brushing her skin. She smiles, a chill running up her spine, and exhales.

“There, now,” she says quietly.

“I love dancin’ with you,” he murmurs, a childish pout in his voice. “Just hate other people.”

Ellie rubs the back of his neck. “I know, love.”

Silently they dance for two more songs. For the second, their forehead are touching, eyes closed, and after awhile, as they sometimes do, they forget to do anything more than a barely perceptible sway. Towards the end, Alec begins to feel a slight dampness at his chest. He opens his eyes.

“El.”

“Hmm.”

“Are you thinkin’ about Aila? Because – “

She immediately pulls back, suddenly feeling it too. “Oh.” She looks down. “Bollocks.” Her hands go to her breasts. “I’ll just – I’ll be back.”

Ellie breaks away from him entirely and, with her arms folded across her chest and her head down, disappears in the direction of the loo.

Alec quickly moves off the dance floor and heads for the bar. He grabs a stool and orders a tequila for her and a rum and coke for himself.

In the loo, Ellie crouches at the hand dryer at chest level. She wishes to god she’d had more to drink tonight.

A woman with an Irish accent comes out of a stall and smiles knowingly. “Milk stains?”

She smiles back sheepishly.

When Ellie emerges, she stops several yards away from the bar, where she spots Alec talking with a tall blonde woman. He’s frowning at her, in his usual way, and stiffening. He holds up his left hand and points to his ring finger. It’s all too perfect, Ellie thinks. She has to run off to deal with her leaking tits and Alec gets chatted up by a gorgeous woman twice her height.

Alec turns away from his admirer and she finally walks away. Ellie waits a moment, watching him sip his drink, then approaches, sitting on the bar stool next to him.

“All right?” He asks. The wet spots are barely visible now.

“My ego’s seen better days, but otherwise.” She picks up her tequila and takes a sip. “Did I miss anything?”

She raises an eyebrow and waits for him to tell her. To her great satisfaction, he does not hesitate.

“An incorrigible Scandinavian woman was chattin’ me up,” Alec replies, shaking his head with disdain.

“Oh? And what did you do?” Ellie crosses one leg over the other.

“Told her I was very happily married,” he says. “And on my honeymoon in fact.”

She smiles as she takes a sip. “Apparently the tan suits you.”

“ _You_ suit me.”

Ellie pulls her stool in closer to him, until her legs are between his knees. She reaches for his shirt and yanks him forward into a kiss. And another. And another.

“There’s a, um. An accessible loo down there,” she says, her lips drifting over to his ear. “Single occupancy.”

He pulls back a little to look at her face. She’s grinning mischievously. Then he reaches into his pocket and throws some cash down on the bar.

It takes them less than thirty seconds to make it to the accessible loo, lock the door, and rid Ellie of her knickers. He drops his trousers and pins her against the wall, hiking up her dress. He fucks her hard, with a hand over her mouth to quiet her, which she only finds more arousing. There are a few knocks at the door. These go unacknowledged. She bites down on his hand when she comes, and he follows immediately.

When he pulls out of her, he says, “Still got it.”

Disheveled, they exit the loo and keep their heads down as they walk past a line of people waiting.

*

Later that night, lying in bed, Alec lays his head on Ellie’s chest. He strokes her side and her hip absently until she drops off. When he sleeps, he dreams of beating Don Johnson at golf and then shagging Ellie at the 18th hole.

***


	3. Chapter 3

When Ellie wakes up on Wednesday morning, she is immediately aware that this is their last day in Mallorca. She stares at the etchings in the ceiling, sorting through the pros and cons of leaving until she feels at peace with it. Then she turns her head to look at Alec, lying on his back next to her, shirtless and limbs sprawling. The steady rise and fall of his chest makes her smile and she watches it until her breathing rhythm matches his exactly, like a game. She catches a glimpse of the alarm clock on his nightstand. _9:38._

She cannot remember the last time either of them slept past seven.

From _her_ nightstand, her mobile starts vibrating. She grabs it quickly, turning off the vibrating, then runs into the loo and shuts the door before answering. It’s a Facetime from Lucy’s mobile, but it’s Fred’s face she sees.

“Hi, my love!” Ellie sits on the edge of the bathtub.

“Hi Mumma.” Fred holds the screen impossibly close to his face, then holds it out again. “Where’s my dad.”

“Sleeping,” she replies. “And what are _you_ up to?”

“Gonna play outside!” Fred announces. “Going to Ryan’s soon. We might go to the park! Or the beach!”

“Ah, that’ll be nice for Auntie Lucy,” Ellie says loudly, knowing her sister is nearby.

“Bloody well right!” Lucy’s voice from off in the distance.

“We watched _Ra-touille_ last night,” he tells her. “Even Tom and Daiz.”

Ellie feels a ping of jealousy at the mere image of all the kids gathered in the living room without them.

“Ailie didn’t even cry.”

Aila has up until this point been so confused by the notion of moving pictures that they tend to bring her to frustrated tears.

“Oh,” Ellie replies, heart breaking.

“What did _you_ do?” Fred asks.

“Well. We went to dinner. And we went dancing.”

“Sounds boring.”

Ellie chuckles. “Not as exciting as _Ratatouille_ , I’ll grant you.”

“Ailie has been bouncing on the floor a lot.”

Her eyebrows narrow. “What?”

“Hang on, El, I’ll show you.” Lucy’s voice again. The mobile is taken from Fred and the camera redirected to the floor. There, Aila is in army crawl position, rocking back and forth. “See?”

Ellie’s hand goes to her mouth. “Oh my god.”

“She doesn’t go anywhere!” Fred assures her from off-screen. “Just kinda wiggles like that.”

Ellie would give anything to witness the wiggling in person. “Luce, will you take a video so Alec can see it?”

“Yeah, all right.”

“Fred, love, I’m going to say goodbye, all right? Let Auntie Lucy take a video and we’ll speak later,” she tells him.

His face appears on the screen again. “Okay Mumma. Can I see Alec next time?”

“Course you can. See you later, love.”

“OKAY BYE!” Fred shouts, for no reason.

Alec is lying exactly as she left him. She crawls back onto the bed and lies on her side next to him, playing with his chest hair. He doesn’t seem to notice, and she’s getting hungry and restless now, so she slides her hand down his abdomen down below his belly button and rubs back and forth.

“Alec,” she whispers, pressing a kiss to his chest. “Wake up, love. It’s nearly ten.”

He frowns with his eyes closed. Her fingertips slip just underneath the waistband of his boxers. He opens one eye.

“Good morning,” she says with a laugh.

“Nearly ten?”

“Mm-hmm.” She keeps kissing his chest and he groans happily. “Ought to get ourselves moving. Order breakfast. You want anything more than toast?”

He raises his head. “Don’t speak to me about toast with your hand…… _there_.”

She glances down to see he’s good and hard, then chuckles. “I’ll order breakfast then take care of you while we wait, yeah?”

He drops his head back down on the pillow and smiles. “I love honeymoons.”

*

After a long, leisurely _breakfast, etc_ Ellie convinces Alec to spend the afternoon at the resort pool. They lie on their lounge chairs in their swim suits and sunglasses, ordering cocktails and people watching. Must keep their detective muscles in shape, they decide, as they determine backstories for all their fellow resort guests. At least five of them are capable of murder in their estimation. One couple is definitely on the lam.

Alec is less hesitant about getting in the pool than he is about wading into the sea. The pool is relatively harmless, even he must admit that. In the deep end, he can still stand, but Ellie is submerged. He dips underwater and manuevers her onto his shoulders before standing up again. Then proudly walks her around like the pool like she’s Miss America before letting go of her legs and tipping backwards until she falls off and into the water.

*

A joint shower to rinse themselves off quickly turns into a joint shower for more _pleasurable_ purposes. This is then followed by the world’s most glorious late afternoon nap. When they wake up an hour and a half later, they spend about twenty minutes in bed watching and rewatching Lucy’s video of Aila not-crawling.

*

At dinner, Ellie convinces Alec to order a steak. One steak won’t hurt him and he deserves it.

He eats it very, very slowly, until Ellie loses her patience and starts helping him eat it.

“Oi, woman, I was _savorin’_ that.”

“Savor it _faster_.”

*

Shortly after the sun has set, they go for a long walk on the beach arm in arm.

“We _could_ do this at home, you know,” Ellie reminds him.

Alec bristles at the idea. “Too cold.”

“Not _all_ the time.”

“Too far away. The beach is in our back garden here.”

Ellie blinks at him. “It’s a ten minute walk from our house.”

Alec smiles and looks away from her.

She brushes her hair out of her face as she glances up at him. “What?”

He tries to shrug it off. “Still get a bit of a thrill hearin’ you say _our house_ is all.”

Ellie looks back at him incredulously, but squeezes his arm. “Bought it _nine months ago_.”

“Ah. Time is fluid now.”

It’s mostly true. Alec often feels the only reason he has any sense at all of time is because of Aila and her all too rapid growth.

Ellie straightens her spine, her expression turning serious. “I want to go to the beach more,” she says definitively.

He glances down at her, lips just barely curling into a smile. “Fine.”

*

When they return back to the hotel, Alec convinces Ellie, for once, to put on the bikini she bought. She agrees, but only if he goes to the jacuzzi with her. He accepts the challenge, seeing no other options, and she is happy enough. It’ll be dark and no one will be around to see her look ridiculous. Alec rolls his eyes at _ridiculous_.

They head outside the dimly lit pool area in their dressing gowns. It is indeed quiet and empty. They leave their dressing gowns on the nearby loungers and quickly scurry over to the jacuzzi. It’s gone a bit cold with the sun down.

“Wait, wait,” Alec says as she steps into the jacuzzi.

She stops. He leers at her, eyes raking up and down her body. Then she sighs.

“God’s sake, Alec.” Then gets into the jacuzzi.

He follows her in and they both groan with unmitigated happiness as they sink in.

“Fucking _glorious_ ,” Ellie moans as she finds a comfortable spot.

Alec sits beside her, drapes an arm around her shoulders, then leans his head back and closes his eyes. There is a moment of silence for the jacuzzi.

Then Ellie lets out a long sigh and says, “I want one.”

“One what?”

“One of these,” she replies. “One jacuzzi.”

He lifts his head. “You _want_ one?”

“Mm. And we could make it a kid-free zone. It’ll be like our own personal Mallorca in the back garden.”

Alec takes a moment to visualize it, then sinks a little further into the tub with a smile on his face. “…Might be nice.”

Ellie turns into him, sliding a hand over his stomach and leaning in to kiss his jaw. “Might be…”

“Aye,” he purrs. “And perhaps we could do things like…this.” He unfastens the tie at the back of her neck.

“Well hello there!”

Ellie’s arm immediately goes to cover her chest before her bikini top can disappear into the water. Alec sits up straight as a twenty-something couple approaches the jacuzzi.

“Uh. Hello,” Ellie greets them in return, reaching back to refasten the tie.

“Oh, you’re British!” The clearly American woman exclaims as she gets into the jacuzzi.

Alec watches in horror as her companion follows her in and they sit opposite them, only a few feet away.

He clears his throat. “ _She’s_ bloody British.”

Ellie rolls her eyes at him.

“Oh, you’re _Scottish,_ ” the woman says with glee. “I’m Wendy. This is Steve. We’re from California.”

“Of course you are,” Alec mutters under his breath.

Ellie inches closer to Alec, tucking her feet underneath her. He keeps his arm around her shoulders, to her surprise.

“Ellie,” she says. “And this is Alec.” He grunts. He’s gotten better, but he still doesn’t like letting _strangers_ use his first name. “Good to meet you.”

“You two on an anniversary trip?” Steve asks, settling beside Wendy. “We’re celebrating five years this weekend.”

“Congratulations,” Ellie says pleasantly, though even she is none too thrilled by this interruption. “No, we’re actually – “

“On our honeymoon,” Alec says, a bit too loudly.

“ _Oh_ ,” Wendy gasps.

“We just got married,” Ellie adds, obviously.

“Congratulations! That’s so exciting,” Wendy says. “I thought maybe a fifteen, twenty year anniversary or something like that.”

Alec scoffs. “We’re not _that_ old.”

Ellie looks at him. “We _are_ that old, actually.”

“Second marriage?” Asks Steve. Only now does Alec notice that Steve is far too tan.

“For both of us, yeah,” Ellie answers. She turns to glare at Alec, silently telling him to _stop staring_.

Wendy nods. “We’re hoping this’ll be our last.” Then she laughs, as if she’s made the world’s most hilarious joke.

“Though they do say second marriages are often more healthy than the first,” Steve points out.

“We’ll see,” Ellie says, through pursed lips. “Any children?”

“Not yet,” Wendy replies. “Still weighing our options there. But we’ve got plenty of time.”

Steve doesn’t look at Wendy. “What about you two, kids in the mix?”

“Four, actually,” Alec answers. “My daughter, her sons.”

“And a baby,” Ellie adds.

“ _Oh_.”

“We have a six-month-old,” she continues. “Girl.”

Steve appears impressed. “Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow.” Alec glances at Ellie, then back at the couple. “So we’ve really been valuin’ our _alone time_ out there.”

Ellie nudges him, frowning. “Was a surprise to us too,” she says, trying to stay as friendly as possible. “Sometimes weighing your options doesn’t work out so well.”

“What do you two do?” Steve wonders.

“We’re detectives,” Alec says definitively, as if somehow this might end the conversation.

Both their eyes go wide. “ _Oh_ ,” they say at the same time. “Wow.”

Ellie chuckles. “Never get this many _wows_ back home.”

“Evidently we’re the ninth wonder of the world,” Alec mumbles.

Underneath the water, Ellie pinches his side.

“ _Ow_.”

“You know something, we’d better be off,” she says. “We’re likely to prune any moment.”

Alec glares at her. _We’ve only just gotten here!_ She glares back. _We have a massive bathtub back at the room._ His expression goes neutral and he nods. _Roger that_.

“And we’ve an early flight tomorrow in any case,” he adds quickly.

Alec makes for the steps, and then Ellie realizes she’s going to have to get out of the jacuzzi with her bikini in full view. He seems to sense this.

“Hang on,” he says to her as he steps out of the water.

He grabs a towel from their lounge chair, then opens it up to her. She quickly steps out of the water and into the towel, wrapping it around tightly.

“Hope we didn’t drive you away!” Wendy calls out.

“It was nice meeting you,” Steve says. “And congratulations again.”

*

Late that evening, Ellie and Alec lie side by side in bed, covered only by their sheets. She’s lying on top of his arm but her hand plays with his.

“Back to reality tomorrow,” he says finally, staring at the ceiling.

“Mm-hmm.” She yawns. “Thank god our reality’s not so bad.”

“Quite nice, actually,” he agrees. “Our reality.”

“I miss the kids,” Ellie admits with a wistful sigh.

“I even miss being woken up by the baby at 4am.”

She turns her head and smiles sheepishly. “Me too.”

“There’s somethin’ wrong with us.”

“Yes, there is.”

“It’s just so nice rockin’ her back to sleep,” he says.

“I _know_.” She turns in his arms and nuzzles his cheek with her nose. “Impressive the way our respective realities have gone from miserable to magical in the span of two years, isn’t it?”

“We’ve become soft in our old age.”

She elbows him. “I’m still on the _good_ side of forty, thanks ever so much.”

He ignores her. “I miss our house. And our bed.”

“It _is_ a great bed, isn’t it.”

“It really is.”

“Even the weather,” Ellie says, to her own surprise. “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I even miss the rain.”

“The truth is, we can have all this at home, but for the sun,” Alec observes.

“Not _all_ of it,” she argues. “Tequila Ellie does _not_ exist in England, I tell you what.”

He chuckles. “Tequila Ellie is best saved for special occasions, I agree.”

*

The journey home feels endless. Mallorca to Barcelona to London to Broadchurch. It’s nearing 11pm when they finally pull into the drive. The downstairs lights are still on though it’s a school night, and Ellie can only assume it’s Lucy, on the couch watching rubbish telly.

When they walk through the front door with their suitcases, rubbish telly is exactly what they hear. Quietly, they step into the living room, with they find Lucy holding Aila, walking her around the room with the telly on the backround.

“Oh, what’s this!” Ellie gasps in a high-pitched voice.

“What are you doin’ up, wee lass?”

Their body languages shift completely at the sight of Aila. Meanwhile, Aila catches sight of them and her eyes go wide, frowning at first. Like they are mirages she doesn’t believe are real. Then, as they get closer, she bursts into tears, totally overwhelmed. She holds an arm out to Ellie, flexing her fingers at her needily. Ellie lifts her out of Lucy’s arms and holds her tight against her chest.

“Oh, my love, my sweet bug.” She kisses the top of her head repeatedly.

“It’s all right, darlin’.” Alec leans down and strokes her hair. “Shhh.”

“ _All right, Luce_?” Lucy says to herself. “Oh, yeah, fine, good.”

“Sorry,” Alec says to her, as Ellie rocks the baby. “Everythin’ all right?”

“Yeah, she woke up about thirty minutes ago, absolutely wide awake in her crib,” Lucy explains. “Like she has some sort of sixth sense about when you two are bloody near.”

Aila has stopped crying and is rubbing her face on Ellie’s shirt, both hands gripping onto her. She’s just sort of whimpering now. Ellie sits down on the couch and lifts her shirt, unfastens the clasp at the front of her bra in that old familiar way.

“She’s just had a bottle fifteen minutes ago, El,” Lucy tells her.

But Aila immediately latches on, sucking at her nipple hungrily.

Ellie smiles at her sister. “Not a hunger thing, it’s a comfort thing.” She leans back against the couch, stroking Aila’s cheek as she eats. She has tears in her own eyes.

Alec watches them with his hands in his pockets, smiling.

“I’ll get out of your hair,” Lucy says.

“Thank you for everythin’, Luce,” he tells her. “We’ll speak tomorrow?”

“Yes, we’re going to need details,” Ellie says.

Lucy smiles and nods. “Speak soon.” Then she grabs her own bag, which has been near the doorway in anticipation of this moment, and exits.

Alec walks over and sits beside Ellie on the couch, leaning down to kiss the top of Aila’s head.

“I’m so glad she’s awake,” Ellie says.

“Me too,” he agrees. “I was considerin’ wakin’ her up.”

Ellie looks down and sees that tears are still streaming down Aila’s cheeks as she eats.

“What is that, tears of relief, you think?” She wonders. “Did she really miss us that much?”

“Missed your tits that much, at least,” Alec replies. “Almost four days without nursing, she must’ve thought she was goin’ mad. Maybe thought she’d never get them again.”

Without moving anything else, Aila reaches her arm out and starts slapping Ellie’s chest, once she realizes she can’t reach her face.

“There’s her wee love taps,” he says with a grin. “That’s our girl.”

Aila unlatches briefly, babbles a quick _Bopbopbopbop_ , then goes back to nursing. Ellie and Alec both laugh out loud.

Ellie is still nursing her when they slowly make their way up the stairs, Alec carrying their suitcases. They check in on Fred, who has fallen asleep with a torch in his hand and an open Mo Willems book. Alec steps in, switches the torch off, and kisses his hair. Both the teenagers’ doors are closed, which means they are home, safe and sound. They know better than to open the doors uninvited.

Their bedroom is a sight for sore eyes after a whole week. Ellie tries to hand Aila off so she can change into her pyjamas, but Aila won’t have it and starts crying. Ellie lets her keep nursing and tries to undress with one hand. With Alec’s help, she manages to get at least half-changed, into her pyjama pants. Alec pulls back the covers on her side of the bed and she crawls in. He disappers into the loo to wash his face and brush his teeth.

“At least bring me some mouthwash in a cup!” She calls out from the bed.

Once he’s changed into his own pyjamas, he brings up a cup with mouthwash in it. She drinks it, sloshes it around, then spits it back into the cup.

“Good enough.”

By the time Alec gets into bed, Aila has sucked both of Ellie’s breasts dry and is now just sucking at nothing.

“Do you think we’ve traumatized her?” Ellie asks, mildly concerned.

“By mornin’ she’ll have forgotten we ever left,” he replies.

“Come on, baby,” she says, soothingly, lifting her away. “Go see Daddy.”

Aila doesn’t fight her and is easily transferred to Alec, who places her on his chest, patting her back.

“There’s my lovely wee lass,” he whispers. “Daddy’s good girl.”

Ellie pulls the duvets up around her and turns onto her side, watching them contentedly. “My loves,” she coos.

Aila’s eyelids quickly grow heavy and she yawns.

“She’s dropping off,” Ellie tells him.

“We’ll just keep her here, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.”

He strokes Aila’s hair. “Might just…let her sleep _here_ ,” he says, referring to his chest.

“Good.” Ellie smiles. “She’ll love it.”

He switches off his bedside lamp. “I could sleep for a hundred years.”

“Too bad. She’ll have us up again in about five hours.”

Alec closes his eyes and grins. “Fine by me.”

***


End file.
